five two dance company Presents "TURN BACK AND BACK AND BACK"
Company:
five two dance company
five two dance company announces
world premiere of first ever evening length work,
TURN BACK AND BACK AND BACK
at The KNJ Theater at Peridance
October 11, 2025
MANHATTAN, NY - five two dance company will be presenting the world premiere their work TURN BACK AND BACK AND BACK, featuring an original composition by Marwan Ramen. This contemporary evening-length work will be at The KNJ Theater at Peridance in Manhattan, on October 11 at 8:00 p.m.
A women-led dance collective, five two dance company was founded by emerging choreographers Olivia Passarelli and Sophie Gray-Gaillard, that shares highly physical contemporary movement. In addition to the award-winning choreographers, the show will feature collaborators— Inaugural Ann Reinking Scholarship recipient Vivianna DeSantiago, and NYU Tisch Dance alumni and freelance artists Rachel Ha-Eun Lee and Daniel Ricardo Rocha. five two dance company is a collective of dance artists that centers on generating movement language featuring dynamic partnering between people of all gender identities, with the mission to explore the fluidity of identity, connection, and relationships.
TURN BACK AND BACK AND BACK (2025) began when five two was awarded their second SharedSpace residency at Mark Morris Dance Group in 2024, and has reached its final iteration, to new original compositions by Marwan Ramen. This work centers on the concept of repetition and the human desire to break through cycles of mundanity and structure.
“We’ve spent the past year creating this work, and using that time and its creative process to really focus on honing our choreographic craft,” says Co-Artistic Director Olivia Passarelli. “While the root of the work is still very much five two’s signature physicality and human connection, everything feels more thoroughly constructed this time around. I’m excited to share this new side of five two with everyone.”
Tickets are on sale beginning Monday, September 8.
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WHERE:
The KNJ Theater at Peridance
126 East 13 St, New York, NY 10003
WHEN:
Saturday, October 11, 2025 8:00 pm
TICKETS:
Tickets will be available at https://ticketstripe.com/fivetwodancecompany-turnback.
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About five two Dance Company:
five two dance company is a women-led dance collective that shares highly physical contemporary movement. Working with early-career performers, the company seeks to create expressive, legible work that inspires conversation, imagination, and reflection among all viewers.
five two dance company is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2021 by Olivia Passarelli and Sophie Gray-Gaillard. Their work has been featured at Ailey Citigroup Theater, Mark Morris Dance Center, Tufts University, Briggs Opera House, the Emelin Theater, Peridance’s KNJ Theater, Arts on Site, and more. five two was awarded the Directors’ Choice Award at the Spring for Spring Dance Festival and was selected twice for the SharedSpace Program at MMDG. In 2024, five two was in residence at the Dragon’s Egg where they produced their first ever dance film. Most recently, they performed an evening of work for a sold out audience at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. In addition to creating and performing their work, five two dance company is committed to offering affordable dance classes to movers of all experience.
At the heart of five two dance company’s creative practice is the desire to evoke kinesthetic empathy—the ability of audiences to emotionally and physically connect with the movement they witness. Their works draw on the audience’s capacity to relate to themes of love, care, and queerness, creating multiple entry points for viewers to connect to our work. They ground the creation process in striving to produce works that will leave the audience with resonating questions and curiosity.
About Olivia Passarelli:
Olivia Passarelli, an NYC-based freelance artist, graduated from Montclair State University with her BFA in Dance. There she performed works by Martha Graham, Bill T. Jones, Joshua Manculich, Earl Mosley, Christian Von Howard, and Stacey Tookey. Since graduating, she has been privileged to work with and perform works by Laura Halzack, Hope Boykin, Paul Taylor, Liz Gerring, Larry Keigwin, Haley Heckethorn & Joe Davis, and more. She is currently a company member of LaHa Dance Group, HD Theatre, and five two dance company. Olivia has appeared in award-winning films, TV episodes, immersive productions, and most recently performed her work overseas in Amsterdam, NL. She received the Choreographic Excellence Award as part of Montclair’s graduating class and was awarded 1st Place in Salt Contemporary Dance’s Shape Choreography Festival. She is the co-founder and co-director of five two dance company, a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization, with Sophie Gray Gaillard. Most recently, Olivia was the recipient of the 2024 Eryc Taylor New Choreographer Grant.
About Sophie Gray-Gaillard:
Originally from Evanston, Illinois, Sophie Gray-Gaillard began her training at Dance Center Evanston at the age of three. She graduated from Swarthmore College with a double major in Neuroscience and Dance, and during the fall of 2018, she trained in the Victoria College of Arts’ BFA Dance Program in Melbourne, Australia. Sophie has had the privilege to perform works by Doug Varone, Florian Lochner and Alice Klock of FLOCK, Yuki Ishiguro, Olivia Sabee, Vivake Khamsingsavath, Chandra Moss-Thorne, and Amelia Estrada, among other talented artists. Additionally, she was selected to perform as a backup dancer for the feminist punk rock group, Pussy Riot. While overseas, she performed works by Rheannan Port and Rebecca Jensen and was selected to stage her original work, Throw Away, at the Strawberry Fields Music Festival in New South Wales, Australia. She has attended intensives at Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, Boston Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Cambrians, Hubbard Street, Doug Varone and Dancers, American Dance Festival, and b12 research or die. Sophie was awarded the 2020 Melvin B. Troy Prize in Dance for her choreography as well as multiple grants from the Department of Music and Dance at Swarthmore College. Currently, she is co-founder and co-director of five two dance company. In addition to dancing, Sophie is pursuing a PhD in Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
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